What is a Tesla Coil?
A tesla coil is a resonant transformer invented by the great and eccentric scientist Nikola Tesla, also credited with the invention of AC power and the radio. Its primary purpose is to make large, beautiful sparks, make the hair of children stand on end, and generally demonstrate the power of electricity to humanity. The cloud of free electrons it produces can also wirelessly power a florescent lamp held near it, but the device is too loud, expensive, and close-range to be a practical power transmitter. Nikola Tesla developed his coil in the early 1890s, inspired by early results of research into electricity. The tesla coil is based on a device called an induction coil, spark coil or, archaically, a Ruhmkorff coil. This consists of a two coils of insulated copper wire wrapped around a central iron core. The first coil, the primary, consists of a few dozen turns of a coarse copper wire. The secondary coil is many thousands of turns of much finer copper wire. When a current is fed throug
A Tesla Coil is a specially designed transformer, technically termed an “air-core resonant transformer”. It consists of a primary winding, with relatively few turns, and a secondary winding with hundreds, or even thousands, of turns. As with all transformers, the primary and secondary windings are physically arranged so that electrical energy may be transferred between them by transformer action – a changing current flowing in one winding induces a changing voltage in the other. Unlike low frequency power transformers, no ferromagnetic “core” is used, and the windings are “loosely coupled” – typically only 10-20% of the primary’s total magnetic field links with the secondary winding. However, there are even more profound differences. The primary winding is connected to a comparatively large capacitor. The primary winding inductance (Lp) and primary tank capacitor (Cp) combine to form a tuned circuit which will want to oscillate at a specific frequency (called the natural resonant frequ
The Tesla Coil is an air-core transformer with primary and secondary coils tuned to resonate. The primary and secondary coils function as a step-up transformer which converts relatively low current at high frequencies. The Tesla Coil demonstrates the fundamental principles of high frequency electrical phenomena. It illustrates the principles of the ionization of gases and the behavior of insulators and conductors when in contact with high frequency electrical fields. As conceived by the inventor Nikola Tesla, the Tesla Coil was developed to transmit electrical power without wires. An antenna would be constructed to pull the transmitted electrical energy into the electrical system. The Tesla Coil can be considered a simple radio transmitter, operating within a broad range of high frequencies, which transmits power rather than information.
A tesla coil is a resonant air core transformer. It is used to produce high voltages (around 200 Kilovolts on up) at high frequencies (around 500KHz and lower). It was named after its inventor, Nikola Tesla. The tesla coil is not like most transformers that you may be familiar with. The “standard” transformer uses magnetic fields that are contained in an iron core. These fields transfer the electrical energy from one coil to the other. The voltage gain or loss is governed strictly by the ratio of turns between the coils. A tesla coil operates on another principle entirely. This principle is called resonance, and is analogous to a fishing pole that you swing with a small motion of your hand. If you move your hand back and forth a small amount at the correct rate (frequency), the tip of the pole will whip wildly back and forth. Same thing for a tesla coil. If you “swing” it at the right frequency, the voltage at the top will rise and fall wildly.
For the uninitiated, a Tesla Coil is a device that generates very loud, very impressive, and very DANGEROUS lightning-like discharges that are several feet long. Invented by Nikola Tesla in 1891, the Tesla Coil is technically considered to be a dual-tuned resonant transformer (more on that later), and has a widespread following amongst hobbyists around the world.
